The X-Men Episode 3 - Sentinel Island (Pt 2)
by SuperMudz
Summary: Aka "The X-Men vs the Super-Mutant." The X-Men investigated a mysterious signal on a previously unknown island, only to find themselves captured by Sentinels, and now will apparently become the latest guinea pigs of a sinister mastermind.
1. Chapter 1

**The X-Men Episode Three**

"Sentinel Island pt. 2"

"The X-Men vs the Super-Mutant"

_By SuperMudz_

* * *

_The X-Men investigated a mysterious signal on a previously unknown island, only to find themselves captured by Sentinels, and now will apparently become the latest guinea pigs of a sinister mastermind._

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

**CAPTIVE MUTANTS and STRYKER**

* * *

Research lab X3-23.

_Tuesday, 4:23 AM…_

They were all held in capsules – each individually designed to hold them. It was obvious that they were expected, or at least that the people here had been prepared.

The massive Sentinels had surprised them with gas – Rogue only had time to knock the block off one of them before she too was caught and overwhelmed. Mutant or not, none of them were immune to the gases' effects.

It seemed Stryker was still continuing his experiments, but this time, he had help. They had known for some time that the man who once ran the program that created Wolverine, i.e. "Weapon X", had been looking for outside help. And he got it from those who utterly loathed anything to do with mutants, which was quite an impressive feat in itself, if baffling.

"Looks like we're the latest guinea pigs, boys and girls," Wolverine said, grunting and he strained against the steel bolts and shackled pinning him to his prison. The cages were all protected by force-fields, naturally – except for Cyclops'. Whatever they had used to armour the Sentinel was also used to create a shell for his cage. He could only hear the others.

For Cyclops, this felt particularly symbolic for him. Jean was unconscious, he had been helpless as he watched them douse her with gas again, so he could not rely on her telepathic aid.

The only guards were the giant Sentinels, stone-faced and expressionless, as the scientists observed their latest experiments. The X-Men said nothing, and eventually the scientists left, presumably to return another time.

They tried, in various ways to escape. But they found themselves confounded, like ordinary mortals. "Boy, I'm really out of shape," Havoc complained, trying to lift his legs up over the ring. Others made similar complaints.

"When we get back, I'm putting you all through trials," Cyclops told them. They made sounds of disgust at that.

The Sentinels bent down, peering at them like giants at their toys. "Hello, X-Men," a voice interrupted them. It was Stryker again.

(*)

Stryker had come and gone, and left only a mocking message that they would be there for a while. He had all sorts of plans for the X-Men, it seemed. He had let them keep their costumes, and even Scott's visor, which surprised him – although he quickly found it was useless in any case.

But inside the tank, although they were separated, Scott wasn't entirely alone. The gas had come and he had sunk into a dream.

He seemed to be caught in that astral plane again. The girl winked at him and then ran away. Disappeared, more like.

Jean must be reaching out to him with her subconscious somehow. He flexed his wrists, testing for any movement. The cuffs were pretty tight – these guys didn't play coy.

_ "__That's very sweet, Scott, but you can't protect me against the universe, you know," she pinched his cheek._

The memory came back to him, and he couldn't tell if it was more a memory or more the dream.

_I can sure try – he had thought to himself._

They seemed to be some sort of sewers – but they stretched away infinitely in every direction, he couldn't see the end of it, even through his red-tinted visor.

A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he took the visor off. And blinked.

No optic blast.

It was like a cool wind to his face. He didn't even remember the last time he had been able to do this. With Jean, maybe. But this time he was just standing out in the open – normal. In a dream.

It was… was this normal? He laughed. He could see everything with normal eyes, sort of, but everything was warped and dream-like – hardly an improvement.

He shook his head, and put the visor back on. Dream or not, this was no time to break good habits. If his optic vision came back, he didn't want to be taken by surprise. It was dumb, he thought, his powers couldn't protect him in a dream, but even in a dream world he didn't want to be without his defense. It'd be like dreaming he had no arms or legs. Even if it was only psychological, well… this was a psychological realm. He didn't have Jean's gifts.

It seemed to him he could see things, were those the guards? They didn't seem aware of him as he came closer. He looked over the shoulder of one, and although it was blurry and almost nonsense, he recognized the security panel. It seemed like the one that would unlock their cages, and probably the room too.

He didn't know how well he could trust it, but this dream thing was as close to seeing as he could with his eyes shut – Jean must be guiding him somehow if there was any truth to it. Even in her unconscious state she could be reaching out to him.

He wasn't a psychic like Jean or Xavier, but he did have one thing, and that was love. _And force of will._

(*)

"Do you enter everyone's rooms this way?" the voice was amused.

"If only Xavier knew how you were spending your time prowling around looking into boys' bedroom."

She stiffened. "Don't tell him!" She just realized the Professor might not let her back in the Danger Room, not even to watch! It's not like she meant any harm, it was just a lot easier than using the door. He might confine her to the girls' quarter for the rest of the week or something. Probably tell Storm on her. It made her cross.

"Idaho… uh… Marcus? What's the belt for?"

His eyes flashed for a second, then he smiled and shrugged. "Guy's got to have secrets."

_What?! _She put her fists on her hips. "That's what _girls _say," she poked a finger at him.

"So? Why should you have all the fun?"

"Ah-" she stalled on that one.

She suspected it was some secret thing to do with his family now. Maybe there were pictures of them in it. Or maybe it was a secret tool-kit. Unless it was something the Professor or Beast made to help control his powers. She'd ask them. She felt a moment's hesitance, but then shrugged to herself. What harm could it do?

(*)


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

THE SUPER-MUTANT

* * *

Stryker paced in the other room. "Do we have everything we need?"

"We've collected the tissue samples, and blood analysis, and we should be working on decoding the genetic sequences shortly, sir."

"Good. Then there's no further use for these nuisances. Release the super. Make sure they're well gassed first."

He smiled for a moment. "And make sure you get it on camera – it'll be good for posterity."

(*)

"And you have the X-Men, Scott…" the voice came to him.

Aloud. He was confused for a moment as he woke.

She smiled. He could feel it, the image simply appeared in front of him, conjured by her telepathic power. _She had been faking! _He realized. She had somehow used her powers to create an illusion just as they feared. She must have protected herself from the gas with a telekinetic bubble. He would have had a scornful remark or two for Stryker, but he had completely missed it himself.

They had been conducting tests on them for days now. They injected Beast with the mutant-gene suppressant, and he had been docile for a while. Even his formidable strength hadn't been enough to break the chains.

They had been regularly dosing them with the strange gas, keeping their powers under control, and so they hadn't missed a beat. It simultaneously drugged them into unconsciousness, he suspected so they wouldn't be able to fight it off as well, although they tried. They were utterly at the mercy of the triumvirate of terrors that had captured them. Trask, Gyrich and Stryker were all in cahoots.

There was a large chamber on the far side of the room. It was also enclosed, similar to Cyclop's prison.

Jean paled. He couldn't see it, but he could almost feel it. There was something almost relaxing and soothing about being "blind", but he couldn't escape the tension that rippled through her.

She was the closest thing to eyes and ears he had. _"Okay, stay calm," _Cyclops sent, knowing she could hear it._ "Just tell me what you see, Jean."_

He was going to get them out of here.

They heard it before seeing it. Thundering, booming noises, and shouting.

Something came through the door of the chamber. _It was huge! What the Hell is it? _He wondered, aghast at the noise, and seeing it through Jean's eyes. Some sort of bestial monster, slowly ambling into the room, looking like something out of a nightmare.

Officers and men were arraigned on the high mezzanine overlooking.

Gyrich laughed, bordering on maniacal as his voice came through on the speaker, to mock them. Unveiled before them in its complete monstrosity, waving away the freezing nitrogen fog. Their pet super-mutant. So this was what they had truly been working on.

They had brought the mutants here to harvest them for genetic material – to create… these…

Perhaps this was their next ambition, not just giant Sentinels, but controllable mutant weapons, like Stryker always wanted with Wolverine, his own "Weapon X". It seems their loathing of mutants didn't extend to not using them for weapons. And this alliance was an unusual example.

Four, no… two arms, but legs that were so disjointed in their movement it was confusing. Covered in scarlet hair, with bulging, swollen eyes like a chameleon. The claws were massive, and the jaws revealed crushing fangs that looked hard as steel. Ordinarily, a simple animal would not have bothered the X-Men, but something told them it was no ordinary animal – besides its obviously monstrous appearance. And they were helplessly captive without their powers.

It was released, and it looked around it surroundings for moment as if getting its bearings – then its eyes fastened on the mutants, and something seemed to come over it. It was obvious it saw them as some kind of prey.

It huffed and stalked around and stared at them in their cages. They didn't know why Trask had even left it here unless it was in case they escaped. Or perhaps it was a psychological thing.

It flexed its claws. Rogue stared. They had somehow rendered her powers inert with some kind of special gas. They didn't know where it came from, but Storm said she suspected it was a mutant gene suppressant, and they could be manufacturing it right here. Even Logan didn't like that one. Without his mutant gene active, even his healing factor wouldn't kick in.

"I guess no claws then," he growled, still sounding as undeterred as ever. Cyclops had winced at the thought. From what Logan told him, it didn't really make it not hurt, but a healing factor at least would… heal… the wounds, and physiologically it told Logan's body it could repair itself. Who knows what the imbalance caused by it's suppression would lead to. With adamantium coursing through every bone in his body, it wasn't a good thought. Cyclops might not have liked him at the worst of times, but he couldn't help feeling fear for his occasional friend.

But they hadn't used the gas on all of them. If only Cyclops optic vision could effect whatever strange material they were using. He had never seen anything like it before. As far as he knew, the optic energy his eyes emitted didn't really have any limits. It wasn't anything like the power of Phoenix, but it sure packed a punch in a pinch.

He rolled that phrase around in his mind as if it would teach him something.

"What on Earth could they be using in that material?" Storm had wondered.

Cyclops… didn't know. And said so.

"Well it's not adamantium," was all the advice Wolverine could offer.

_Adamantium was unbreakable. Wolverine's claws could tear through the stuff, so this stuff isn't – so why not my laser?_

Maybe there was something else going on. Something invisible to the human, or even Cyclopic, eye.

_Terrible wording, _he critiqued himself.

It was the ultimate weapon against mutants. A terrible sort of anti-mutant weapon.

They hadn't brought the children with them this time, thank goodness. But they sure could have used Kitty's powers at a time like this. Of course, it would have helped to have any of their powers.

"Ah, the telepathic mutant. So you were awake after all. Well fear not – you'll find your powers are of no use on me."

They were shocked. Stryker had appeared without warning, standing on the mezzanine with Gyrich. He was wearing some kind of strange helmet, that looked strangely familiar, although everyone but Cyclops had the opportunity to notice. A brief message from Jean quickly apprised him, however.

At the same moment, Jean frowned, and Stryker suddenly gave a yelp as something tugged his foot, and he fell over. Jean smiled.

"Very clever, Miss Grey," he said getting up, brushing off his lapels.

"But you're not getting in here," he tapped the helmet. He looked at his officer. "Gas her again – and this time, don't drain the tank until I say."

Under his supervision they did so – and unfortunately there was no way for her to escape, without creating a commotion they weren't ready for. But if Cyclops knew Jean, she'd at least use her powers to mitigate the effects, be ready to go when they did enact their plans for escape.

Cyclops felt the locks behind his wrists click. He quickly placed his hands over his face as gas hissed back in again. He didn't breathe, and hopefully the reduced contact with his skin would help.

Their chambers were released. _So did Jean, or did Stryker release the locks? _Suddenly cut off from her telepathic communication, he didn't know the answer. It felt strange, knowing she wasn't tapping into his mind. He felt woozy. It wasn't just a gene suppressant, it was supposed to be some kind of knock-out gas.

Cyclops was still trying to shake off the effects of the gas. They hadn't even had time to plan their escape, it seemed they were being released to their doom.

"C'mon X-Men, even without our powers, we can work together! We can beat it!"

_Jean was the only one left who still had her powers._

Cyclops fired a beam, but it was a weak thing. They climbed up on the tank, and it clawed after them. Jean tried to slow it down with her mind, but she wasn't at full strength either. It wobbled but remained on course.

If it wasn't for Jean, they could have been dead in seconds. She protected them in a force-field, weak as it was. _Lord, she's barely standing._

Rogue came behind it, and seized its tail as it was thrashing.

It was super-quick, and was fearsomely strong, enough to even throw off Rogue even if she had had her powers. It turned, and spat a glob of icky substance, it's eyes glowing.

It roared, the room _shook _with a sonic boom.

"Oh raight," she shook her head, fortunately having landed against some soft plastic waste bins, little worse than disheveled. "Fergaht I didn't have mah powers."

"Hey!" they saw Storm. "My powers are back!" Her hands crackled with lightning. She had been at a loss what to do against so fearsome a creature without her powers, and it couldn't have been better timing.

Beast was throwing barrels at the monster, keeping it off guard.

The tanks opened up their mutant suppressant and it swirled around the creature, it snarled as the fire in its eyes suddenly died, and its expression took on a look of animal panic.

It belched fire, just a cone of flame, searing across the room. It must have had a gut made of something terrific.

"Mine are back, too!" They heard Rogue say, lifting a large crate and pitching it at the monster.

"How are you feeling, Rogue? Up to it?"

"Ah feel up to anything!" she flexed her arm.

Rogue gave it a good southern cross and left it reeling, just long enough for Cyclops to focus a good vision blast on it, and sent it flying into a wall. It didn't seem to like that fight.

It snarled and licked its huge tongue around its fangs.

Its belly rippled, and it fixed its eyes on Jean. She seemed to stagger for a moment. "Scott, that monster! It's telepathic! Ahh, it hurts…" Jean clutched the sides of her head as if in response.

Rogue got her bare hand on the beast, and suddenly it was like they were both hit by lightning. But the beast seemed weakened. Rogue, too, seemed knocked for a bit of a loop. "Ah didn't like that…" she said weakly, regaining herself.

But it seemed to have done the trick. It was Rogue's ace in the hole, and it had saved them in more situation than one. She could take the powers from anyone, she could do it so that she could even drain them of their life-force entirely. No mutant was immune to it.

It moved too quickly – Cyclops couldn't get a bead on it.

"Jean – the coolant tanks!"

She saw them and nodded. While Cyclops chased the monstrosity with one blast after another, hoping to get a good shot off, she concentrated, and slowly they began to levitate, buckling the supports.

"Scott!"

He saw, and blasted the locks one by one – and turned just in time to see the monster coming for him! It had apparently sensed his distraction and chose this moment to attack!

He put his beam on a wide-spread angle, and just let loose. With a howl it was hit with stunning force. And it didn't notice as the tanks floated just over to hover above it. Cyclops' expression grew determined, and in quick succession he disrupted the bottom of each, and suddenly an explosion of nitrogen liquid and gas shot out.

The creature howled again as the freezing substance coated it, and covered the floor, quickly lost in a steam of fog. It was several minutes until they investigated, but no attack had come.

And they saw it – partially frozen, and apparently entirely incapacitated. Scott and Jean hi-fived triumphantly. Wolverine sniffed and prodded it with his claws, his powers apparently temporarily returned as well.

"This critter's not waking up any time soon."

Unintentional, but since they had dispatched it without apparent lasting harm, they didn't really want to terminate it in cold blood either. The freezing would eventually wear off, and they'd be long gone. They doubted its animal mind would comprehend or remember them. Maybe it could stick around to make trouble for Stryker's men – the X-Men didn't have a way to transport it off the island. Beast in particular was fascinated, but there would be no opportunity to study it.

He didn't know if it was the right call, but it was the one he made.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

ESCAPE

* * *

They escaped. They had already explored the lower facility, avoiding the teams of men sent searching for the escapees, while looking for the source of the mutagen/anti-mutagen. Without her powers, Rogue leaned on Storm while they made their way.

The loss of her super-strength left them in a bit of a fix. But Storm blasted an opening with one hand charged with lightning.

Their powers seemed to come and go, apparently the mutant suppressant hadn't been perfected yet. Enough to be a problem though. Rogue's powers had left again shortly after tackling the monster, although she was making a pretty good stand with a broom.

But they weren't strong enough to do much more, all they could think of was escape. Regroup back with the professor to plan their next move. It seemed this facility would survive to continue its horrid experiments another day – but for now, they hoped they had put a spanner in the works.

They found the security terminal Scott had seen in his mind, and Jean had read the mind of the security guard, although it was apparently painful for her to do so now. Too much stress had been placed on her, Scott looked at her with concern, as he feared. Her system had been taking a lot of shocks lately.

"I hadn't expected us to need to get into any computers – but I have something that should do in a pinch," Cyclops flexed his fingers. And while they weren't looking he pulled a small object from a lining inside his X-Men pants (which were a special kind of pants). From experience he knew that most of these systems could be easily accessed as long as you found the proper security key – you just had to rustle enough guards.

He decided they didn't need to know the source of his magic – let them guess.

Anything more sophisticated and they really needed the experts. Bobby was talented, as was Kitty, but neither of them were here. Small favours. Beast, of course, was the teacher, but for once, Scott didn't need his help.

They only had to shut these operations down. Usually just plain action was required. Cyclops could have brought the whole facility crashing down with blasts from his visor.

But none of that would be needed here.

The small object he was carrying was an auto-key. It automatically copied all the files on the computer – and ghosted all its protocols and even its server. It was one of Forge's little additions, and so far had worked on virtually anything. Some sort of subspace electron transfer, he called it.

It was a lot easier to carry these little doohickeys into the field. He could have broken down the security and firewall to search the computer now, but they didn't have the time.

They did indeed find the source – a massive underground factory, pumping pipes and seemingly endless conveyer belts. Silently, Beast has clambered over to the central processing unit, and ripped out a crucial intake feed. According to him when he returned, it would soon overload and destroy the entire unit. It would at least disrupt their operations here, until they could return and put a better end to it. As weak as they were, they were no match for the forces that guarded this place. But they had at least completed part of their mission.

They passed a sign saying "Sub-Level B" as they made it down and up another access stair-well. Since they didn't know which way they came in, they didn't know which way out. Up was their only guess for general direction, and it seemed to be the right call.

They burst into the room – Jean had used her power to pull every trace of the gas from Cyclops' lungs (a very strange and uncomfortable feeling), and his power at least seemed strong enough to do this. He blasted open the door – ready for a fight. But the surprisingly advanced looking laboratory that greeted them seemed vacated.

It was, in fact, astonishing, so that they stopped to look around. "Perhaps I can find a map," Storm said, elegant as usual."

"You do that, sparkles," Wolverine answered. He was obviously uncomfortable without his healing factor, and had yet to re-emerge his claws. This was generally his field of expertise, but he seemed savagely willing to brawl anyway.

"Bet you had an escape plan all ready to go, too, didn'tcha, eyeball?" he said in an aside to Cyclops. Instead of snapping back, Cyclops just nodded. In fact, he had, they just didn't need it in the end. If only he was at full strength, maybe he could simply blast their way to the entrance.

"Hold up! There's a woman over here!"

They gathered around.

"I recognize her, she's Moira McTaggert... from Muir Island. The Professor knows her. She gave us shelter once when we were on the run from Sentinels. She's a very kind woman, and some kind of scientist, although the Prof never explained much."

Rogue had also discovered a series of unsettling looking robots in the back room. "Cyclops – these look, just like you!"

(*)

Cyclops was on the hit and run from androids who used his own power against him. He didn't know how they managed it, but the energy blasts were the same, or at least so similar as to be indistinguishable. It wouldn't matter – he was only flesh and blood.

How many experiments did Stryker and his allies have locked away down here?

He had led them away from the group as they attempted to get Muir McTaggart out of there. He had opened a hole through the roof, and Storm had floated them all to safety. He was making a habit out of this solo thing, but as leader it was his responsibility. As long as he had his powers he couldn't get cornered. He blasted into another room. One brief second and he had knocked out the guards in there, then he turned and scissored his optic blast against the ceiling, collapsing it on the pursuers. Even if it didn't stop them, it'd slow them long enough to get away.

(*)

Following Jean's psychic guide, they did indeed manage to rejoin each other, and she could give them a general estimate of where to go. They were relying on her power more than Scott would have liked. They came across an entire room. Beast was carrying McTaggart, who was still unconscious.

"Oh good heavens," Storm was aghast, clasping her cheeks in her hands. Rows upon rows. They hadn't been the only mutant captives.

"What do we do?"

"There's no way we can fit them on an X-Plane too."

"We'll have to come back for them," Wolverine growled, "c'mon, let's go."

"I thought you'd be the first to want to stay and wreck the place."

"Not if it'll just get them all killed. This is a bigger job than just us X-Men."

_There's no job bigger than the X-Men, _Scott thought.

"What will they be, without their mutant gene, I wonder?" Storm said. "These men will not rest until they have stripped it from them."

"Wolverine's right, we can save the philosophy for later. Right now, Xavier has a plane waiting for us. Jean managed to make contact."

They followed his lead out of there.

They continued moving.

Stryker, Henry Gyrich and Amos Trask, all apparently formed a formidable team. He didn't understand how they could acquire such technology. The Sentinel program was advanced, but it had never had anything like this. Perhaps they had simply succeeded in miniaturizing the technology – it was possible. They looked mockingly similar too – with those visored helmets and vaguely matching body.

Cyclops finally found the exit, and not waiting to restrain himself, just unleashed everything he had and blasted away a hole to freedom.

(*)

A figure hovered silently, black, impressive, as the X-Men moved below, looking for escape. "And so the slave attempts to become the master," Magneto said, watching them.

After a short adventure, they made it to the X-Plane.

"FINALLY off this island," Scott panted, and grunted, and sweat, reaching the top. Forge was there waiting for them. Along with Colossus, steel-skinned giant, who had answered the call.

They had managed to steal information on what the three villains had been doing there, but it was largely a mystery for now. And for now, the facility would remain standing. They had missed their opportunity…

McTaggert was all they were able to save…

THE END


End file.
